Getting God’s Power, Admit I Need His Help

In review of Philippians 4:13 it says, “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Bottom Line:

Christ will give you the strength to face anything.

What this means to me:

I can face, endure and do everything through Christ, who supplies me with the power and strength needed. Like Paul, this too can be my secret for every situation.

Today's verse comes from the 4th chapter in the book Philippians where Paul is thanking those in Philippi for their gifts and concern. Paul goes on to tell them that he has learned the secret of living in every situation (plenty or little.)  He tells us that he can do everything through Christ, who gives him strength.

Given this, a right relationship with Jesus is foundational to every area of my life. Through a secure relationship with Jesus, I can grow and change in ways it’s impossible to do without one. In truth, I can’t accomplish anything having to do with my health without God: “I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13 NLT).

Any major change I try to make can seem like an impossible challenge. And it can be if I try to do it on my own strength! But what I’m learning is that in our inadequacy, God’s strength for a person of faith is made perfectly evident.

That’s why it takes faith. I’ll never be able to do it on my own. I was never intended to be able to! Anything I can do in my own willpower doesn’t require faith, and when faith is not required, I’m not living faithlessly.

This reminds me of a recent quote from T.D. Jakes, “If you can accomplish your dream on your own, then your dream is too small”

When I come to Christ in acknowledgement of my weaknesses, he often turns my greatest weakness into my greatest strength. God loves to turn great weakness into our great strengths. If I want to exercise my faith I need to depend on God, and let him turn it into my greatest strength.

But this will only happen through God’s power. The Bible tells me there’s a direct connection between faith and power. The more faith I have in God, the more power and the more blessings I will have in my life.

Jesus illustrated this in Matthew 13, where he went for a visit in his hometown, Nazareth. The Bible says Jesus “did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief” (verse 58).

God will bless me when I’m not afraid to trust him completely. When I give him my trust, God fills me with his power. In the Bible, Abraham is considered the father of faith. It says, “He didn’t doubt God’s promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, giving honor to God for the promise, he became strong because of faith” (Romans 4:20 GW).

Without God’s power I’m just running on my own energy. And God never meant for me to do that. It’s much like having a laptop that’s unplugged; the battery will eventually drain and all the power will be gone. Why would I want to live like that?

I need to consider that I’ve got a small battery. I can run through life on my own power, which means I’ll be tired all the time. Or I can have access to God’s power plant, provided I just plug in and admit my need for God’s help.

Seems, it’s a pretty easy choice.

Today, I will consider what may be some warning signs in my own life that I’m trying to do something on my own power rather than God’s.